Tag Archives: cut and paste

Usually, surviving February merits a celebratory rush of energetic, brightly colored projects in the studio. But it has been so unseasonably warm and mild this winter, I don’t feel quite the same urgency about ushering in springtime. I wore shorts the last week of February, and the weather is already playing its April games, revolving between sunny 70’s and thunderstorms. Tornado season also seems to have arrived earlier, much to my children’s chagrin. (There are only so many times you can make a game out of doing your schoolwork in the downstairs hall closet by flashlight.)

However, the last few weeks have felt distinctly February when it comes to matters of the heart, and this paper craft seemed the perfect fit: hopeful, but fragile. The blooms and leaves are made from pieces of a coffee filter. I folded and watercolored the small shapes, then glued them in place on a tree branch. (That’s twice now our Bradford pear tree has done something useful — pretty sure that’s a record.)

This is another project from Margaret Van Sicklen’s fantastic Modern Paper Crafts. Like the pleated paper bowl I made from the same book, this also required some complex paper folding and a delicate-but-determined touch. I found the leaves much simpler to make than the blossoms, but the instructions were clear and detailed enough to get me through it without frustration. And the nice thing about a paper craft with coffee filters is that your raw materials only cost a few cents, so it’s no great loss if (when) you have to start over.

Watercoloring the blossoms and leaves also required a gentle hand, but I love the effect gained as the paint bleeds into the fibers of the filter. I used to make watercolor coffee filter art with my kids when they were little, so this was a sweet reminder of those early homeschool years. My son and daughter are more complicated creatures now, but we all still revel in doing art together.

In the end, that is what my plum blossoms speak to: fondness and nostalgia for a more innocent time, determination to get through winter’s challenges together, and growing hope for the future. I think that’s a pretty good way to end February.

For me, February has only two redeeming qualities: the fact that it is a few days shorter than the rest of the winter months, and the appearance of Valentine’s Day halfway through. After weeks of unrelenting cold and gray outside, I am happy to warm up my studio with bright pink paper and red foil hearts, and I certainly don’t mind an excuse to eat chocolate. :)

I have always loved this holiday. One of the highlights of my elementary school years was sorting through my Valentine’s Day “mailbox” (a.k.a. my shoebox covered with an improbably thick layer of glitter) and examining all the tiny cards. I was thrilled to see my name written by so many different hands, to open dozens of little secret messages, and then sort them by cartoon character and color. In a tidal wave of zeal for the day, I even ate whole handfuls of Conversation Hearts, even though they taste more like chalk than candy.

It is a shame that Valentine’s Day often creates such a vortex of angst and commercialism. Life involves quite enough pressure and uncertainty without adding worries over buying the right gift, making the right reservation, or finding the right partner on a deadline. I much prefer the old days, when you gave a valentine to everyone in your class because that way no one got their feelings hurt. I appreciate February 14th because it is a day to say “I love you” to the people I care about, to remind my friends and family how much I appreciate their sweet selves. I’ll take construction paper hearts and a hug over diamonds and a teddy bear gift basket any day.

I had a lot of fun making my own valentines again this year. They wound up being more like miniature books than cards, a melange of all the papers, fabric, stickers, and ribbon that caught my eye. I made a dozen, but no two were alike — partly because I don’t see the point in making something by hand and then turning it into an assembly line, and partly because I have a little trouble reigning myself in when I get excited about a project. :)

The end size of my valentines was about 2″x3″, much more reminiscent of vintage valentines than a traditional greeting card. They are small, detailed, have lots of texture and color: all my crafting loves. In addition to several papers, I used red plaid fabric from kitchen curtains I made a few years back and some pink and white toile from my daughter’s toddler bedroom. (She’s almost twelve now — always keep your fabric scraps is the lesson here.) The finishing touch was some translucent plastic, Valentine-themed die-cut shapes, perfect for tucking in tiny envelopes or dangling from pink embroidery floss. Valentine’s Day is one of those times when I indulge in all things girly, dainty, and pretty.

One final caveat: even though I really enjoy making my own valentines, I offer not a whit of condemnation if you don’t. As long as what you give comes with genuine thought and feeling, you really can’t go wrong. May you have a sweet, loving day this Valentine’s Day and every day. :)

Kirigami is origami’s scissor-wielding cousin, from the Japanese kiru meaning “to cut” and kami meaning “paper.” I have been anxious to try my hand at this sort of precision papercutting ever since I got a CutterBee Reatractable Knife for Christmas. It looks like the ergonomic lovechild of an X-acto hobby knife and a ballpoint pen, and the hands-free blade replacement cartridge is much less hazardous than trying to snap off the tip to get a new sharp edge. (Unlike the kitchen, so far I have never had an injury in the studio that required stitches, and I would like to keep it that way! :)

If there is one thing I can always use more of, it’s bookmarks, so I decided that’s how I would use my first little piece of kirigami. I traced the floral leaf motif from a cutting template in Papercrafting In No Time; I have learned the wisdom in having training wheels when trying out a new type of art. As I get more proficient at the cutting techniques themselves, I would like to try sketching my own designs.

I made the papercutting out of plain white cardstock, then mounted it on some printed paper for contrast. The top layer slides back to reveal another printed paper and an appropriately bookmark-ish quote. This project only took about an hour start-to-finish, and I see bookmarks of all shapes and sizes in my future. Now if I could just figure out how to construct a few more bookshelves with paper and a cutting tool, I would be set… :)

With a bad cold making the rounds in our house, my family has been in need of comfort and cheer. For my husband, I made amberjack poached in red curry and coconut milk, full of ginger and chili, then we settled in for a marathon of the original Star Wars trilogy. (first theater release version, thank you very much — I’ll have none of that CGI-rendered Jabba the Hut ;)

Spoiling my teenage son/confirmed chocoholic is just a matter of baking the fudgiest recipe I can find and tucking him in with a big fleece blanket still warm from the dryer. For my daughter, it’s a cup of Sleepytime tea with honey and plenty of lemon, and some sort of little artsy gift to make her smile, like this blooming flower card.

The inner flower is the same size as the base, but the petals are carefully folded and each one tucked under the next to create a cute pop-up effect. I glued two sheets of printed paper back-to-back to get the patterns I wanted, but you could save time by using double-sided cardstock. I like that peek of the inner message as it opens.

The template for this charming little bloom comes from one of my favorite papercrafting books, Papercrafting in No Time by Clare Youngs. There are fifty creative, appealing projects in the book, and while “in No Time” is a bit of a stretch for some of the more complex pieces, they are worth the effort. You’re certainly not limited to the included instructions either — I have re-purposed several templates to create a whole new set of paper art. Definitely on the Cut-and-Paste Club reading list. :)

As we get back to our normal work and school routine around here, I thought I would share one last holiday-themed project. If there was such a thing as Paper Craft Engineering 101, this would be the final exam. The 4″-square box, lid, and double layer of pockets inside are made from four single sheets of cardstock, scored, cut, and folded to form the structure and its contents.

When you remove the lid and unfold the box, it transforms into four pairs of pockets. Each pocket holds a decorated, removable tag. The center forms the perfect hideaway for a miniature winter scene made from paper and gel medium.

I made the gift box around this time last year; it was a promise to the recipient to pray for the items listed on the tags: peace, love, wisdom, faith, joy, mercy, hope, and patience. (I certainly needed and received all eight myself in 2011.)

The template measurements for the gift box came from Outstanding Mini Albums: 50 Ideas for Creating Mini Scrapbooks by Jessica Acs. The rest of the projects featured in the book are more traditional scrapbooks, and this could easily be used as a keepsake album with pictures on the tags. It would make a fantastic birthday gift or present for new parents. You could also use the tags to record words of advice for newlyweds or wishes for a graduate.

Projects like this one take time, but I value the focus and solitude of those hours. This is definitely one of those crafts where being a member of the Cut-and-Paste Club comes in handy, but don’t worry — even if you haven’t renewed your membership since kindergarten, the club officially welcomes you back with open arms. Go get your scissors, I’ll wait here. :)

Thanks to my artsy kiddos and their new favorite book, there are miniature paper monsters cropping up all over the house. Their cumulative paper-crafting zeal and Papertoy Monsters: 50 Cool Papertoys You Can Make Yourself! by Brian Castleforte have populated our dining room table with a 5″-tall community of charming little creeps. (Clearly the cut-and-paste gene has been passed on. :)

There are 50 original papertoy templates in the book, from Confetti Yeti to Octopup. Author Castleforte and the 24 other contributing artists are talented, imaginative designers, evidenced by their fun paper menagerie. The monsters all feature a mini biography and easy-to-follow instructions, and they are printed in full color on cardstock that’s been both perforated and pre-scored for easier assembly. I am usually leary of “just tear here” paper crafts, but these actually work; unlike my daughter’s paper doll years, the last few weeks have heard very few cries of frustration over inadvertent paper amputees.

I would recommend Papertoy Monsters for those over age 10, including the grown-up paper artist with a sense of humor. Some monsters require more of a patient, careful hand than others, and I wouldn’t give this book to an amped-up fifth grader who needs to run off a sugar high. But it is just right for quiet time, and in my years of teaching art, I have found kids of all ages have a surprising capacity for focus and detail if the project is engaging and the end result worth the effort. These papertoys certainly meet those requirements.

I am a lifelong, card-carrying member of the Cut-and-Paste Club (Platinum Kindergartner level — and, yes, I made the card myself). I was sold from the moment the five-year-old me unfolded a little wedge of paper and discovered that all those pleats and snips had created a big, beautiful snowflake.

So you can imagine my excitement at discovering Mobile Art: Papers, Designs, and Instructions for Twenty Stunning Mobiles. So far I’ve made a charming Matryoshka doll mobile (picture above from the book), and it was surprisingly quick and simple. If you’ve got twenty minutes, a pair of sharp scissors, glue, and twine, then you’ve got a piece of art. Some of the mobiles are whimsical, some seasonally-themed, and some distinctly Calder in design. Simple shapes and colors reign, but the subjects range from cupcakes, to abstract mod shapes, to peas in a pod.

As a paper-crafting geek, I actually have opinions about adhesives and cutting tools. (Just smile and nod.) For the projects in this book, I love EKTools Honey Bee Scissors: they’re small, sharp, and have non-stick coated blades so you can cut tape and stickers with impunity. My adhesive of choice for these mobiles is Weldbond, a thick, white glue that will stick anything to anything — and believe me, I’ve tried. Mosaic tiles to the top of a dishwasher, floral napkins to desk shelves, glass beads to a Gibson guitar, wire limbs to a tree made from books… sticking twine to paper is a gimme for this stuff.

I’d love to see a link to your favorite cut-and-paste project in the comments section. Next on my list is a mobile shaped like a tree limb, with birds and leaves suspended from it. I think it will look great brightening up a corner of our homeschool classroom. :)